Undergarments



Nov. 22, 19 E. A. ROCKWELL UNDERGARMENTS Filed May 1, 1959 INVENTOR.

EILEEN A. RE! BKWELL AT TURNER? United States Patent UNDERGARMENTS Eileen A. Rockwell, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to The La Resista Corset Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed May 1, 1959, Ser. No. 810,383

1 Claim. (21. 128-528) This invention relates to an undergarment, particularly a ladys body controlling foundation garment of bi-furcated or panty girdle type. The usual garment of this type has a tendency to bind, draw or twist in the crotch portion, especially while walking, climbing or when assuming sitting or leaning postures, as well as to become displaced upon the body through pulling downwardly at the waist portion or riding upwardly at the leg portions, requiring frequent readjustment and pulling into place.

An object of the invention is to provide a garment of the pantry girdle type which will conform to and control the natural configuration of the body, will readily yield to the lengthening and shortening of the body surfaces when assuming difierent postures, and will return to its normal position upon resuming normal posture. In particular, it is proposed to provide the crotch portion of the garment as an integral continuation of a front panel portion extending at least to the waist line of the garment and a rear panel portion extending to a substantial extent upwardly at the rear of the garment, these front and rear panel portions and their intermediate crotch continuation being formed of suitable woven or knit material having elastic stretch in a lengthwise direction, i.e. in the vertical direction of the front panel, and preferably being non-stretchable in a transverse direction. A further object is to provide an undergarment in which the seam lines between the crotch portion and the adjacent parts of the garment follow the natural crease lines of the body, particularly where the thighs join the groin and buttocks regions, thus lending to the comfort, fit and body controlling characteristics of the garment, as well as to the freedom of movement of the wearer.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an undergarment of the panty girdle type according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line of line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan view in fiat condition of the continuous member constituting the front and rear panels and the crotch portion.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the undergarment, according to exemplary illustrated embodiment of the invention, comprises a continuous member 10 constituting front and rear panels and a crotch portion, formed of woven or knitted fabric having elastic stretch in the lengthwise direction of the member, as indicated by the arrow, and being preferably non-stretchable transversely.

The member 10 comprises a front panel portion 11 having an upper edge 12 of substantial length, which in the completed garment constitutes a portion of its upper edge disposed approximately at or slightly above the waist line of the wearer, and having concavely curved downwardly divergent side edges 13 terminating approximately at the hip line. The side edges 14 of the crotch portion 15 are concavely curved from the lower ends of the side edges 13 and converge towards each other to the center pointof the crotch portion, indicated by the seam line 16, from which point they diverge outwardly and connect with the convergent side edges 17 of a rear panel por-- tion 18, which in the assembled garment forms an inverted V section extending substantially upwardly at the rear to overlie the central crease of the buttocks of the wearer. The curved edges 14 of the crotch portion are designed to substantially follow the crease lines of the body at the front and at the rear where the thighs of the wearer join the groin and buttocks regions.

Preferably the member 10 is formed of two pieces of material secured together by a seam 16 disposed transversely across the narrowest part of the crotch portion and at the inner side a strip of non-stretchable relatively soft and flexible fabric material 19 is stitched in place over the seam line and extends for a short distance forwardly and rearwardly therefrom. This provides a neutral non-stretchable area along the low point of the crotch, which permits this portion of the garment to remain in place on the body without chafing while allowing the front and rear panel portions to yield in opposite directions from the central area as the body of the wearer assumes different postures.

The garment further comprises side and back forming sections 20 having upper edges 21 aligned with the upper edge 12 of the front panel portion 11 to form the body encircling upper edge of the garment, these side sections being preferably formed of woven or knit fabric ma terial having stretch both vertically and horizontally. The forward edges of the sections 20 conform to and are secured to the curved side edges 13 of the front panel portion 11 and the upper forward portions of the side edges 14 of the crotch portion, being extended ver tically downwardly from the edges 14 and secured along vertical seam lines 22 to the forward vertical edges of inner leg sections 23, preferably formed of woven or knit fabric having horizontal stretch only, the upper edges of the inner leg sections conforming and being secured to the remaining portions of the side edges 14 of the crotch portion.

At the rear, as seen in Fig. 3, the side and back forming sections 20 are provided with vertical rear edges secured together at the center line of the back along a vertical seam line 24 extending from the upper edge of the garment to the apex of the inverted V-shaped rear panel portion 18 of the member 10, from which point divergent rear edges 25 extend downwardly to the lower edges of the leg portion, being secured along seam lines to the edges 17 of the rear panel portion 18 and to the rear edges of the inner leg sections 23. All of the seam lines are preferably in the form of stretchable zig-zag or ladder type stitching.

The front panel portion is preferably provided with an inner liner 27, which may be formed of non-stretchable fabric material, its lower edge being concavely curved and disposed a short distance below the lower ends of the side edges 13.

A vertical stay 28 is preferably provided along one side of the garment, as seen in Fig. 4, and extends from the upper edge of the garment to a point a short distance below the hip line. At the opposite side of the garment there is provided a vertical opening 29 normally closed by a zipper fastener 30, as seen in Fig. 2. At the rear of the garment a pair of stays 31--31 are preferably provided in outwardly spaced relations to the center seam 24, these stays extending in downwardly convergent relation from the upper edge of the garment approximately to the hip line. Suitably spaced hose supporters 32 are secured to the lower edges of the leg portions of the garment.

What is claimed is:

An undergarment of the panty girdle type comprising a combined panel and crotch member having oneway stretch lengthwise and including a front panel portion having a top edge and side edges extending downwardly from said top edge, a back panel portion having side edges forming an inverted V-shape and extending upwardly to a point substantially spaced below the top of the garment, and a crotch portion integrally continuous'with said front and back panel portions having con cavely curved side edges extending between the lower ends of the side edges of said front and back panel portions, a pair of horizontally stretchable inner leg forming members, each having a top edge secured to a respective side edge of said crotch portion from the rearward end of said side edge to a point at the forward side of the crotch portion substantially spaced below the forward end of said side edge, and downwardly extending forward and rearward edges, and a pair of side, back and leg forming members having forward edges secured to the side edges of said front panel portion, the side edges of the forward side of said crotch portion and the forward edges of said inner leg forming members, and having rearward edges secured to each other along a central vertical seam extending from the top of the garment to the apex of said back panel portion, to the side edges of said back panel portion, and to the rearward edges of said inner leg members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,583 Fridolph Dec. 26, 1944 20 2,464,121 Dieb old Mar. 8, 1949 2,569,229 Cooper Sept. 25, 1951 2,696,003 Herbener Dec. 7, 1954 

